Josie Maran, a former model-turned-entrepreneur, has been making waves in the beauty space for the past decade. What I love about Josie’s brand is that it truly is luxury with a conscience; Josie makes sure that all her argan oil is fair trade and I’m always impressed by the brand’s dedication to quality products. That said, here’s what Josie has to say about her start and what’s next for Josie Maran Beauty…and, btw, I’ve been using her Argan Oil for years!

Tell us a little about your background.

As the face of Maybelline cosmetics for an unprecedented ten years, I was the spokesmodel for one of the most popular national makeup brands in the country. Yet I was hardly your typical glamour girl. In fact, I didn’t even like to wear makeup when I first became a model. The child of bohemian artists, I grew up in Northern California with a mother who was a “true beauty” who never wore a stitch of makeup. However, my attitude towards makeup changed as my modeling career kicked into overdrive and I started working with the top makeup artists in the business. They showed me how to apply makeup and helped me see that it is something that doesn’t just transform a look, but boosts confidence and the spirit as well.

Tell us about how you came up with the idea of Josie Maran Beauty?

I began my journey 10 years ago with a dream to bring positive change to our beautiful world. When pregnant with my daughter in 2007, I decided to look for natural makeup formulas to use and discovered that none lived up to the levels of sophistication and luxury that I wanted. It was then that I realized that after spending so many hundreds of hours in the makeup chair, I was uniquely qualified to create my own line of cosmetics, the type of makeup that I was searching for: chic, luxurious and most importantly, healthy (for us AND for our planet). So I set out to create a collection of high-quality, exceptional and natural products that could ignite change within the world. Not long after the birth of my daughter, Josie Maran Cosmetics was born.

Explain to us why argan is a multi-tasking beauty miracle.

While I was still modeling, I had a transformative experience with argan oil. Five years before I launched my line, I was modeling in the South of France and I met this 70-year-old woman who looked like she was 40. She told me she used argan oil so I started to use it every day. I used to have breakouts and my skin was really dry and I used very popular products and moisturizers that were not made of natural ingredients. I switched to argan oil every day and night on my skin and on my hair and it was amazing. I began dreaming about starting a healthy and natural line.

Always asking what’s possible. If you play the same game that everyone else is playing, you won’t do anything that’s inspiring and you’ll live in fear. If you don’t allow yourself to dream, you’ll never get yourself anywhere unique and important. You also really need to learn how to trust yourself and others. You need to be able to grow as a team and an organization.

What’s one thing you know now that you wish you knew when you first started?

I had no idea what I was doing, I just had a lot of passion for wanting to make a difference and I wanted to support my sisters with good stuff. I had to figure out how to run a business, and that was difficult, but it was a labor of love and it gets better and better. Plus, in developing the actual product, it was hard to find a formula that is high performing and high quality. That was not easy, especially 10 years ago. I went to different labs, and I would bring them fancy products and say, how can we make this without any of the bad stuff? And I was told it was impossible. I even had labs try to convince me that parabens are actually good for you. I got a lot of nos but I never stopped trying to achieve my goal and that eventually helped with the innovation.

What’s next for Josie Maran?

Over the past few years, I have been reinventing and evolving my brand to its next phase and potential. The official launch of this rebranding will roll out in 2019 with a new program that will encompass the mind, body and beauty with a focus on life rejuvenation. I am eager to show how a product line can bring about social change. We have slowly been releasing new products over the last couple of years to hint at and signify the magic that the future of the brand is going to bring. To celebrate JMC’s 10 year anniversary, I launched Argan Moonstone Drops this past fall. It is a revved-up version of 100% Pure Argan Oil Light, but with iridescent pearls to help you achieve a holographic glow. Argan Moonstone Drops can be used as makeup primer, highlighter, under eye brightener, and illuminating body oil.

As far as the immediate future, we will be building out the color line in 2018 with some amazing new launches coming out throughout the year, starting with my new Good Brow multitasking brow fill and highlighting wand. All the new color launches will of course be infused with Argan and other healthy ingredients, and will not only provide gorgeous color results, but great skincare benefits as well.

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#ASKKAT PRESENTED BY INSTYLE

About Katherine

Through my reporting, speaking, writing, and community service, I believe I can make a difference. People my age have an important role to play across the board in our society and I want to use my voice for positive change. READ MORE...

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